


I'll Take a Yule Log with a Side of Secrets

by snape_potter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Secret Snarry Swap 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-08 19:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12871326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snape_potter/pseuds/snape_potter
Summary: Ginny signs herself and Harry up for a baking competition, but Harry's worried that his boyfriend won't forgive him for keeping secrets.





	I'll Take a Yule Log with a Side of Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> This work was created by [**HDWriter**](http://hdwriter.livejournal.com/).
> 
> I love baking competition shows, so this prompt caught my attention from the get-go. Sorry there's not much smut (and this is mostly fluff), but I hope the competition aspects are fun regardless. Thanks, as always, to the wonderful Nenne for her excellent beta job!
> 
> Prompt 9 from nestinghedwig: Severus and Harry participate in a Christmas baking contest (i.e. The Great British Baking Show or the US equivalent). It is your choice if they are baking as a team, baking as rivals or as a judge and a baker.

Harry looked around the room, trying to settle his nerves as he rubbed his damp palms on his apron. The large space had eight baking stations, each fully equipped with all the staples. At the station next to him, Ginny glanced over and winked. Harry smothered a sigh and managed a smile in return.

He had already scoped out the rest of the field as they waited for the judges, listening as the six other contestants -- beside him and Ginny -- made brief introductions. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about any of this. Ginny had signed them up -- her version of showing how they could still do things together, even though they weren't a couple. Harry felt torn. On the one hand, the idea of baking and getting to participate in something like this excited him, especially as he prepared to open his own bakery; on the other, the memory of the fight with his new...boyfriend? Lover? Harry didn't know what you’d call him, but he knew the man hadn't been happy when they'd parted. In fact, he'd stopped listening to anything Harry said once he admitted Ginny was involved.

It had been challenging, dating someone who wished to remain a secret. Hermione, of course, had guessed after the first date, but she hadn't even told Ron when Harry asked her to keep quiet. It was important to his new man (Harry winced at that description too) that they keep their association under wraps. "I don't want the world expressing their opinions about my time with you," he'd said early on. "We needn't keep it quiet forever, but I want time to spend with you privately -- if your need for fame can handle it."

Harry’d assured him he'd be fine, though they'd had a bit of a row about the man’s assumptions regarding Harry's desire for celebrity. Now that they'd been together for a few months, Harry knew he had fallen completely for this man, and his greatest fear was that he wouldn't forgive him for keeping this from him, even though he'd had little choice based on the privacy contract he had to sign. Plus, what if his paramour ( _ugh_ ) wouldn't wait for Harry to finish this? His thoughts swirled, sucking away some of the anticipation.

_"I'm going to be gone for about a month," Harry confessed, fiddling with his cloth napkin. The remnants of their dinner lay around the table, the fire burning brightly behind them in his date's cosy living room. His date had cooked dinner and set up a romantic table, and Harry had got increasingly nervous as the evening progressed, knowing that he should have said something earlier. They'd been pursuing this thing between them for almost three months, but Harry already had deeper emotions for this man than he'd had for anyone before. That made him nervous and uncertain about explaining the competition._

_After a pause, where his date laid down his knife with careful precision, he said, "A month? Doing what, exactly?"_

_"I'm not entirely sure, truth be told," Harry admitted. "I would have said something before, but I only found out today that it was happening this next month, and --"_

_"How could you not know? I thought you quit the Aurors."_

_"I did." Harry was stung. He wouldn't lie to this man, but the suspicious tone bit at him. "This isn't for work. It's -- Ginny has been struggling with everything, and this was her plan. She wanted us to have some time --"_

_"Ms. Weasley -- you're spending the next month with your ex?" His date threw his napkin on his plate and stood. "And you waited until after we ate, until after I did all this --" His nostrils flared._

_Harry's heart sank. "No, you're -- I'm not explaining this well at all. I'm not spending the month with Ginny. It's not --"_

_"We're done here," his date said, stalking out of the room. His voice carried back. "You can see yourself out."_

Harry'd had no chance to fix anything. He'd long known his love interest (a little better) was prickly, but he'd not experienced it first-hand since they started dating -- until last night. He hadn't known what to do, so he just left; though he did leave a note in an attempt to explain himself. But since the Portkey left at 4 am, he didn't know if it had been read.

He tried to tamp down his nerves as their host -- Lee Jordan?? -- wandered into the room, a bright smile on his face. 

"Welcome, bakers," Lee said. 

Harry blinked, only then noticing the small, hovering cameras at each station. They'd been floating near the ceiling, but with Lee's entrance, they moved down into a more obvious position. Harry swallowed hard. This was the part he'd never wanted, the main reason -- other than his boyfriend ( _okay, what should he call him?_ ) -- that he'd been reticent about this whole venture. He tried to ignore the ball drifting nearby and focused instead on Lee.

"Today we are opening our first annual Holiday Baking Championship -- Wizard-style. Your challenge today will be a classic -- a yule log. The flavours and style are completely up to you, but you must incorporate some kind of movement into the finished product. Because we have the additional magical elements, you will only have one challenge per competition day. You have two hours, starting now." Lee dramatically dropped his hand, and at each station, a clock popped into place, counting down from 120:00.

Harry's brain raced, and he began pulling ingredients from his cupboards. All around him, the other competitors did the same. He and Ginny were the youngest, no surprise, but Dmitri Spencer, on Ginny’s other side, was only five years older at 30. He was on sabbatical from the Falmouth Falcons following a Bludger incident. 

The other five ranged in age from mid-30s to 60s, Harry guessed. One of the women had introduced herself as Kellie Dawlish, 'an Auror’s wife.' But Dawlish was Head Auror this year, and Harry was surprised she hadn't capitalised on it a bit more. Still, he hadn't even mentioned he'd been an Auror when they'd gathered. He figured most people knew that anyway, of course. The other older woman looked familiar, and when she'd given her name as Martha McGonagall, Harry had barely hidden his shock. He hadn't known Headmistress McGonagall had a sister. 

He'd already forgotten the names of the three remaining men, but he knew the handsome one in his 40s was a Potions expert. That made him nervous, and thoughts of his less-than-stellar performance in Potions at Hogwarts danced through his head as he gathered his supplies. 

He was going to make a spiced pumpkin and butterbeer-cream yule log cake. He quickly mixed his sponge, tasting here and there as he worked. Although they could use magic -- and would need to, of course, for the moving decoration -- Harry knew from his own baking at home and through classes that pastries and cakes had better texture if you did most of the work by hand. He finished the batter, poured it into his sheet pan, and put it in the oven at his station. Then he turned his attention to the decorative elements and the butterbeer cream filling. 

Harry loved autumn. He figured it was because of Hogwarts and the joy of returning 'home' each year after suffering with his relatives throughout the summer, but autumn always made him feel warm and safe. Not only that, but his date had agreed to spend time with him starting in fall, as well. That made his flavours and theme obvious to him -- his yule log was going to feature spiced biscuit leaves that changed colour and moved as if they were blowing in the wind.

After the fallout from the war with Voldemort finally vanquished, Harry found himself at loose ends. He hadn't completed his education at Hogwarts, but Kingsley hadn't cared and had pushed him to join the Aurors to learn on the job. The thought of returning to Hogwarts to make up what he'd missed didn't appeal, despite his love for the school. It didn't help that so many had died. Even though he'd been able to call Kreacher and a couple of the Hogwarts’ elves to help save Snape, he still felt an overwhelming sense of loss for a while. It was the first autumn where the idea of returning to Scotland didn't appeal.

So, Harry gave in to Kingsley’s requests and joined the Aurors. Ginny insisted they get back together, so he'd done that too. But Hermione had quickly noticed his apathy, and she'd encouraged him to find something -- anything -- that was just for him. Something to bring him out of his melancholy. He'd chosen an evening Muggle course in baking, remembering that he'd sometimes had fun when his aunt forced him to bake as a child. He liked the solace of following a pre-determined recipe, and after his first 6-week course had finished, he'd found another...and another. 

Soon he'd discovered magical baking courses, though he often had to travel for those. By that time, he'd also realised that neither did he love working as an Auror, nor did he love Ginny. And when one of his fellow baking students pushed him against a wall after class one day, kissing him till his toes curled, Harry identified one of the main reasons Ginny and he would never work out. That student, a male, had turned him on more than Ginny ever did.

So, at the ripe old age of 21, Harry had begun experimenting with his sexuality as much as his baking while they were on a 'break,' at her request. He suspected she'd done this to test him, to make him jealous. Instead, he'd broken up with Ginny less than a year later, knowing by then that things would never work between them. Harry was ready to be honest about the gender he truly wanted. Hermione claimed that Ginny still had feelings for him, but Harry had taken this early Christmas present from her -- their time together on the first edition of this show -- as a token that she had accepted they would only ever be friends.

He left the Aurors only a couple of months after he ended things with Ginny, and he hadn't really found anything else to fill that hole. He didn't have to work, but he did need to fill his time. He'd spent months learning as much as he could about baking techniques, both Muggle and wizarding, in France and Germany, as well as a short stint in the Cordon Bleu. 

Now, here he was, having to show his skills -- or lack thereof -- before an audience. But just as he'd felt with Quidditch in school, the competition here excited him and even helped him focus. He could see Ginny frowning at her oven, muttering to herself. He was surprised, in all honesty, that she'd wanted to sign the two of them up for something like this. She'd never really enjoyed baking, despite Molly’s desire to see her daughter learn some of her skills. Harry’d even asked Molly for tips here and there, and she'd reciprocated, especially after he'd completed a couple of the more renowned courses.

Harry's clock beeped in harmony with everyone else’s, and he realised they were down to the final ten minutes. He gently removed his sponge from the pan, smoothed on the buttercream, and carefully rolled the log. Once done, he finished up by placing the rest of the buttercream around the outside, taking his wand and using magic to create the grooves in the 'wood.' Then he added the spiced biscuit leaves and set the movement spells into motion, watching to be sure the leaves changed from bright green to mottled green-yellow-orange, and finally to brilliant red. As they changed, the biscuits also flowed along the surface of the cake, as if being blown across the log by wind.

The clocks began blaring as they counted down the final ten seconds. Then Lee waved his wand, and a shield came up around each station’s surface, forcing the bakers to step back. Harry chuckled. That was one way to be sure they finished on time.

"All right, bakers. Soon you’ll be meeting the judges for the first time. Before then, please do some standard cleaning spells and straighten your aprons. We’ll gather over here." Lee walked to the front of the kitchen, and Harry quickly cast the spells. He also washed his hands and ran his fingers through his hair, though why he bothered, he wasn't certain.

He followed the others to the magical line on the floor, standing between Ginny and the good-looking Potions bloke, with Dmitri on his other side.

"Bakers, let's meet your judges," Lee said, the hovering cameras magically whirring again. "First, welcome Patty Duncan."

Harry's eyes widened a bit. Patty had been his instructor at the Cordon Bleu. He had no idea she was a witch, but as she walked into the room, she waved her wand and the scent of cinnamon wafted toward the contestants. "Good afternoon," she said. Harry wondered if he imagined her quick wink when she noticed him.

"Second, Lydia Pascale, aunt to the famous Muggle baker, Lorraine Pascale." A tall, slender, white-haired woman glided out, her richly dark skin contrasting nicely with her warm, toothy smile. Harry couldn’t hold back his gasp. He'd had no idea the Lorraine had a magical relative. From the noise around him, no one else had known, either.

"And lastly, a man that many of you might have known from another venue, Mr. Severus Snape, Potions Master."

This time, Harry's vision blurred, and his head swam. Snape stalked toward the judges' table, a smirk on his face as he glanced over the contestants. His step faltered just a bit when he glimpsed Harry, but he didn't waver and simply sat in his chair without comment. Harry tried to get his legs to stop wobbling, and he noticed Ginny giving him concerned looks from the corner of her eye. He took a deep breath and pulled himself together as Lee began his spiel.

"Judges, the bakers had to create a yule log cake with a decorative element showing movement. Today, we'll begin with Martha." Martha stepped forward and levitated her yule log to the judging table.

Martha’s cake was chocolate with a raspberry cream filling. The judges clearly liked the flavours, although Snape commented on the slightly dry sponge. Her magical aspect was a bunch of holly berries bursting into bloom. Harry thought it was pretty impressive, personally, and it seemed the judges agreed. They received scores for the taste, the textures, and the magical elements. Harry had seen the Muggle show, and this was organised rather differently. They would receive a score out of 30, and the highest score won. All the scores were revealed at the end, although the judges had to magically scribe their scores as they went.

Harry watched as Dmitri and Frances (good-looking Potions bloke) brought forth their creations. Dmitri's was weird, in Harry's opinion, with a blend of Firewhisky and currants for his filling in a chocolate cake. The judges seemed unimpressed, as well. Frances, on the other hand, had also done a spice-style sponge, and his cranberry cream cheese filling definitely got the judges’ attention. His magical element was a marzipan vine which curled around and grew along the log. 

Ginny's log was simple. She'd made a carrot cake with a cream cheese filling, though she hadn't rolled her cake. Instead, it was square with one layer of cream in the middle. Snape made a face when he tasted it, and Lydia made a humming sound as she picked through the slice. Her decorative element also didn't seem to work, and Harry wasn't even sure what the sparks and shooting fire was supposed to be. Ginny looked frustrated when none of the judges made many positive comments.

Dawlish's wife also didn't seem to do well, and her magical element didn't move. She seemed on the verge of tears, the frustration obvious when her spells didn't work, though the judges had all praised the flavour in her banana custard filling. And then it was Harry's turn, and he stood nervously, trying not to watch Snape too closely as the three of them inspected his work. When Patty took her first bite, her eyes widened, and Harry panicked for a moment until he saw the pleasure in her eyes. "Oh, this is lovely," she exclaimed, dipping her fork into the Butterbeer cream again. "Did you use real Butterbeer?"

"Of course," he said, smiling at her.

Snape said nothing, but Lydia also commented on the moist texture of his spice-pumpkin cake. Harry slowly let his breath out, feeling that he'd done okay, even if Snape wasn't pleased. He stood back, waiting for the others to receive their judgement. After they'd all gone, there was a break. The judges huddled together and viewed the scores.

Ginny came over to Harry, leaning against him. "I don't think I did too well. I hope I don't get sent home already," she said, frowning.

"You know, your mum would have helped you prepare for this, if you wanted," Harry pointed out.

Ginny’s frown deepened. "I didn't think it would be this hard," she said, a hint of whinge in her voice. "It was advertised as a 'foray’ into baking. How could I have known that everyone else here would actually know something about it?"

Harry tried not to let his annoyance show. "You do realise that I’ve had years of training, right? That this isn’t just a silly hobby for me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and squeezed his arm. "Of course. But I figured you’d be the best one here, hands down. I thought I could stick around for a while, and we could spend some of the downtime together, you know." She sounded a little uncertain, but she also gave him a suggestive look at the same time.

"Gin --" Harry wasn't sure what he would have said, but Lee interrupted them.

"Bakers, please gather for the reveal." They got back in their places. In the order they'd shared their desserts, each score appeared in the air above them. Harry watched them pop into place, cringing a bit for Gin when she got a measly 15.8. Then his score floated over his head, and he couldn’t hold back a huge grin -- 28.7. The only one higher was Frances, who received a solid 29.5. Ginny’s was indeed the lowest, and she scowled when they announced she'd be leaving. She managed not to look completely sulky, but Harry could tell everyone else knew how unhappy she was. 

"I’ll Owl you in a while," she muttered as she hugged him. 

He didn't respond, his eyes drifting instead to Snape, whose face froze a bit when Ginny touched him. Then Lee made a couple of closing remarks, and the cameras shut down. "All right, guys," Lee said. "Tomorrow you have a break, but you’re not allowed to leave the building. You can certainly mingle together, and the judges will also be around if you’d like to chat with them. Please don't bring baking into your conversations, however. We’ve put a special Information Spell around the competition, which means that you won’t be able to ask any questions or share any ideas regarding your upcoming baking plans. Other than that, you’re on your own until 9:30 am, Wednesday morning."

The others clapped Frances and Harry on the back; then they started peeling off their aprons and heading toward the exit. Harry lingered, wondering what he'd be allowed to say. Patty came up to him first. "So good to see you again, Mr. Potter."

Harry gave a slight smile. "You recognised me when I showed up in your classroom, didn't you." He didn't make it a question, and she nodded.

"Yes. But since we were in a Muggle setting, I figured you didn't want anyone commenting, even in private. And your baking skills had little to do with your other magical abilities -- though I will say, your impressive use of spells --" She broke off, her eyes widening. Then she laughed breathlessly, glancing over at Lee. "Oops."

Lydia laughed too, even as she shook her head at Patty. "Ah, ah, ah," she said. "No baking talk." She held out her hand to Harry. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Potter. I had no idea we’d have celebrities on the show."

That bothered Harry, though he tried to keep it from his voice. "I'm not a celebrity in the baking world, Ms. Pascale."

That left only Snape, who had stood beside them, silent and stoic. "I'm returning to my room," he announced then, his dark eyes briefly meeting Harry's. "I had a...challenging evening last night, and I wasn't aware we’d be staying here throughout the filming of the show, as well." He gave a sardonic glance at Lee, who was talking with one of his minions.

Patty tittered. "Oh, I know. It was quite the shock when I had to tell my grandkids I wouldn’t be back for their holiday party, after all. I do think we should be able to leave in between. It's not like anything in our regular lives will disrupt this show."

Even though Harry would have sworn Lee wasn't paying any attention, he came over to them at that point, a serious expression on his face. "Originally, we planned to have the filming move a little more slowly, and when that was the case, we didn't want to keep our judges from their regular lives. However, we’ve since decided to try the faster schedule, where we’ll have a new challenge every other day. Although the finale will take longer, we’ll still have everything wrapped up within two weeks. Even those who are eliminated -- like Ginny today -- will remain in this building, though she won’t be allowed to mingle with the contestants until they’re also eliminated."

There was a brief, somewhat awkward silence, and then Harry sighed. "It was nice meeting you and seeing you again," he said to the ladies. "Nice to see you again, S -- Sir," he murmured toward Snape. "I'm pretty tired. I also had an emotional and unhappy evening last night," he added.

Snape raised his brows. "Do tell? What could have gone wrong for the Saviour and his lady love? You couldn’t have known she'd be knocked out so soon."

His tone was bland, but the words were cutting. Harry lifted his chin. "Not that it's necessary to share such things in public," he said, seething a bit, "but she’s not my lady love. She hasn’t been for some time. My _male_ lover," he said, allowing his annoyance to seep into his voice, "and I had a misunderstanding because I kept my role as contestant in this show a secret."

Lee broke in. "As you had to, according to our privacy spells." 

Snape rolled his eyes. "I wouldn’t think you’d keep such a thing from your _lover_ , though. If you truly had feelings for him."

Harry gritted his teeth. "Well, it turns out he kept things from me too, so I guess we're even on that score." He turned to the others, who looked rather confused at the sudden tension in the room. "Please excuse me." He left as quickly as he could without actually running.

He'd just reached his room when two voices rang out. "Harry," called Ginny from down the hall.

"Potter," came Snape's deeper tones.

Although he felt a hint of guilt, Harry didn't hesitate over his choice. "Severus, come inside. I don't really want to do this in the hallway." 

Severus nodded and slipped by Harry, who immediately locked his door, throwing up a Silencing spell as a safeguard. They stared at each other before Harry backed off and slumped on the small sofa. "So, what? Are you never going to forgive me? Did you read my note?"

Severus sat stiffly next to him. "I read your note, yes. I --" He looked away from Harry, tension obvious in him. "I made all your favourites, planned a romantic dinner. I wanted -- I’d hoped --"

"There’s nothing between me and Ginny. Even if she might want there to be," Harry cut in. "There hasn’t been anyone but you for a long time. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this competition, but I didn't want you to stop seeing me. I didn't want to give you an excuse to put off what was happening between us. I was so afraid that you wouldn’t wait, that you’d just end it," he blurted.

Severus's dark eyes locked onto Harry's. "I was going to ask you to move in with me," he said.

"Oh." Harry blinked, unsure of what the past tense meant. "And now?" he whispered, when Severus didn't say more.

"Will you move in with me?" Severus asked, taking Harry's hands.

Harry closed his eyes in relief. "Yes. Of course, yes." He felt Severus pulling him closer, and then soft, thin lips met his. Harry opened his mouth, deepening the kiss. When he had to breathe, he moved back, but clutched Severus's hands in his. "No more secrets?"

Severus snorted. "No more. Though this wasn't much of a secret on my part."

Harry arched a brow. "I didn't know about it."

"I told you I was consulting for a new wizarding show, something that would air on the WizardVision contraption."

"Oh." Harry snorted. "Okay, you did say that." Then, as the implications hit him. "I need to drop out," he said.

Severus sighed. "It's possible. We’ll go to the others -- later."

"They might want to announce why -- on the show, I mean. Is -- is that okay?"

Severus drew Harry closer to him, putting his arms firmly around him. "It's okay with me. Is it okay with you?"

Harry snuggled into Severus's neck. "Oh, yes. I want everyone to know. It's been killing me to keep this quiet for the past few months."

"I apologise for that. I wanted you to myself, I think. But I knew it would come out when you moved in -- _if_ you moved in."

"Severus, I'm in love with you. How could you not have known?"

Severus tightened his hold. "I hoped, but I have oft been disappointed in the past, and we don't have the most stellar history before this year."

"It's been fairly stellar this year, though," Harry said, chuckling. He lifted his face for another kiss, and Severus indulged him. 

Later, as they lay together in Harry's bed, naked and sated, Severus carded his slender fingers through Harry's unruly hair. "Maybe I should quit rather than you," he said, his voice hesitant.

"That won’t work," Harry murmured, not even opening his eyes. "They need three judges. One less contestant won’t make a huge difference, though."

"But you’re one of the best -- and you won’t get the chance to show that." Severus sounded truly unhappy about it.

Now Harry did open his eyes and tilt his head to meet Severus's dark gaze. "I didn't think you even liked my cake."

Severus rolled his eyes. "You’re joking, surely. It was sublime. I don't know how you infused so much butterbeer flavour into your cream without ruining the texture. You definitely will be doing more baking around the house in the future."

Harry couldn’t hold back a satisfied grin. "I’ve no problem with that." Then, as something occurred to him, "How is it we can talk about this?"

Severus snorted. "I suspect it has to do with you and your ability to bend magic to your will. Or perhaps it's because we're in your bedroom?" He made this last comment with a suggestive leer in his voice, and Harry snuggled closer. After a pause, Severus said, "Harry? Are you certain it's okay?"

"What?"

"Pulling out. You truly are a gifted baker, and --"

"Severus." Harry lifted up this time, making sure Severus could see him clearly. "I told you I was making plans for next year, right?"

Severus nodded slightly.

"I’ve already leased a shop. I'm going to open a bakery in Diagon early in January. The plans are already set. I had no idea what this baking competition would entail, and although I suppose it could possibly help with promotion if I won, there’s no guarantee I would win. And losing could definitely hurt."

Severus snorted, gently pulling Harry's head back down to rest on his chest. "I don't see any of the others beating you."

"Martha and Frances both have the ability," Harry said, hiding a yawn.

Severus snorted again. "Rest now. We’ll talk to Jordan and the others tomorrow. Maybe they’ll have a different solution."

"I'm fine with this one," Harry murmured, his eyes closing again as he lost himself to the warmth of Severus.

The next morning, after they'd awakened ridiculously early to Harry's stomach growling -- and after a shared shower and other activities -- Severus and Harry ate breakfast in the building's cafeteria. It was a cross between a hotel lounge and the cafeteria at DMLE. The other contestants trickled in as they were finishing up, most giving the couple a surprised or even wary look.

Lee joined them before they could leave. "I hear you need to talk to me?" he said, his eyes focused on their linked hands.

"We didn't realise both of us would be here -- let alone as contestant and judge," Harry said simply. "I plan to withdraw from the competition."

Lee heaved a sigh, rubbing his forehead. "The production team won't be happy," he muttered.

"I could leave instead," Severus offered.

Lee shook his head. "No. They'd never find another judge at such short notice. We'll figure it out, though...any chance you could simply pretend there's nothing between you?"

Although Harry suspected it was not a real request, he quickly shook his head. "No. I'm not hiding anything about this." Severus squeezed his hand, and Harry could feel his pleasure without looking.

Lee nodded. "Fine. I'll take care of it. You'll have to leave, though --"

"Or perhaps he could stay in my suite," Severus said. "He could probably help out in a number of ways."

Harry tried not to laugh at the look on Lee's face, but then it morphed into a crafty smile. "Oh, I bet we could use him." Lee held out his hand to Severus, and they shook. "We'll let you know the new plans later today."

He got up and left, and Harry and Severus followed, ignoring the speculative glances from the others. "What now?" Harry asked.

"Now you move your stuff into my room, and we make our own plans," Severus said, spinning Harry around and kissing him soundly. "No more hiding," he whispered into Harry's mouth.

"Indeed," Harry said, kissing him back.

**  
On the evening after his first day working in his new bakery, Harry collapsed onto the sofa beside Severus, putting his head on Severus's shoulder. "Well, that was exhausting."

"In a good way, I assume," Severus said, waving his wand at the WizardVision. 

As Harry nodded, Lee's voice rang out, "Welcome, bakers." And even though Harry already knew the outcome (Frances won, though Martha gave him a run for his money), he snuggled closer to his favourite judge and settled in to enjoy another evening with the man he loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment here or at [Livejournal](https://snape-potter.livejournal.com/3773053.html), [Insanejournal](http://asylums.insanejournal.com/snape_potter/1707936.html), or [Dreamwidth](https://snape-potter.dreamwidth.org/1018936.html).


End file.
